As a community energy company, Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) has a responsibility to plan and provide a reliable, affordable energy supply that balances the needs and values of our customers. Our Energy 2015 plan represents the next steps we are taking to ensure a dependable and environmentally responsible energy supply for tomorrow.

Specific initiatives

Discontinue burning coal at Blount Generating Station. Plans are moving forward to transition the plant to natural gas generation by the end of 2011.

Secure replacement energy. MGE is investing in new, cleaner coal facilities to help replace Blount's coal-fired electricity. The company will own 100 megawatts (MW) from the cleaner coal Oak Creek Power Plant expansion on Lake Michigan. The new units are due to begin producing energy for customers in 2010.

Add renewable resources. In 2008, MGE increased its wind capacity by more than 12 times—from 11 to 137 MW. This new energy includes:

• MGE's 30-MW wind farm in north-central Iowa that came online in 2008.
• 96 MW of purchased wind power from:
  • An adjacent wind development in Iowa (30 MW).
  • The Endeavor II Wind Energy Center in northwest Iowa (50 MW).
  • The Forward Energy Center in Dodge and Fond du Lac counties in Wisconsin (16 MW).

Increase energy efficiency and conservation. Energy 2015 relies on a greater customer commitment to conservation to reduce the growth rate of electric demand. Power Tomorrow, MGE's energy efficiency program, helps achieve that goal with:

• An educational customer mailing.
• MGE completed the first phase of Power Tomorrow residential workshops, where participants learned about saving energy.
• We are conducting our next phase of workshops, which are for customers in our natural gas-only service area.

Offer innovative pricing options. Our Green Power Tomorrow program offers electric customers renewable energy to buy.

• Customers who voluntarily participate pay a premium of $0.01 per kilowatt-hour.
• MGE has the highest residential green pricing participation rate of any investor-owned utility in the country.
• About 10% of our residential customers buying clean energy from Green Power Tomorrow.
• MGE also introduced a pilot solar buyback program to encourage customers to install photovoltaic systems on their homes or businesses. Customers who install qualifying systems can sell their solar energy to MGE for $0.25 per kilowatt-hour.

Demonstrate new technologies. MGE continues to demonstrate and test new technologies for producing energy:

• Checking the feasibility of using an urban wind turbine to provide renewable energy. MGE's 10-kilowatt turbine, located in a Fitchburg park, is one of only a few urban turbines in the nation.
• Testing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which are charged by plugging into a standard electrical outlet.
• Learning which solar technologies are most effective. We track energy production from more than a dozen solar photovoltaic demonstrations in our service area.

Reducing emissions
Under Energy 2015, we are making improvements that are expected to result in an 8% reduction in overall carbon dioxide emission rates between 2005 and 2015. For details, see the MGE Environmental Responsibility Report.

For more information
Energy 2015 Overview [PDF - 174 KB]
Power Tomorrow Booklet [PDF - 1.5 MB]